June 19, 2017

Meet the Team


Meet the Team

The goal of the Children of 1917 Project is to create a book and film from the interviews, footage, photos, and stories gathered during our team’s journalistic travels. It will involve extensive time on the road and require all its members to perform a variety of roles, drawing on expertise and experience they did not know they had. In the end, our goal is to gather and share the stories of up to two-dozen Russian centenarians.

Since we will be asking lots of questions of our interview subjects, we thought it only fair to start off by answering some questions about ourselves, so that readers can get to know us all a bit better.

The team in Ostrovki. From left: Zhenya Mashchenko, Nadya Grebennikova, Mikhail Mordasov. Not pictured: Paul Richardson.

NADEZHDA (NADYA) GREBENNIKOVA (journalist, translator, photographer-whisperer) takes great pride in the fact that she was born above the Arctic Circle, in Murmansk Oblast. She studied journalism in Veliky Novgorod, where she met and married Mikhail Mordasov. For the past several years the couple has made Sochi their home. She works as a journalist for print and online publications, writing on a wide range of subjects, from society and history, to culture, travel and the environment.

What is your favorite food? Fish of any sort. Except Surströmming (fermented Baltic Sea herring, a traditional northern Swedish dish).

What would you be doing now if you were not doing this project? I would be writing an article about my recent travels to Marrakesh, studying Swedish, and taking morning swims in the pool. And jealously following the exploits of the Children of 1917 expedition.

What is something interesting no one normally knows about you? I plan to live to 115. I am now actively investigating the secrets of long life.

Where is one place in the world you have not been but would like to go? Scotland. Because “my heart's in the highlands.”

YEVGENY (ZHENYA) MASHCHENKO (filmographer, resident expert on all things Asian) is the newest (and youngest) member of our production team. Born in the city of Yurga, Keremovo oblast, his family moved to Chita when he was eight. After he finished school, he moved to Krasnodar, where he studied to be a documentary filmmaker. He has worked on a variety of film projects, from Khafiz in Chechnya to a blind student music school, from punk rockers in Burma to the Rohingya people of Burma. Most recently he survived work on a documentary about a retired hitman. He is looking forward to working on this more “sedate” subject.

What is your favorite food? Pad See Ew (Thai Stir Fried Noodles).

What would you be doing now if you were not doing this project? Working on a film project in Krasnodar or Rostov-on-Don.

What is something interesting no one normally knows about you? I am a Siberian.

Where is one place in the world you have not been but would like to go? Iceland. Japan.

MIKHAIL (MISHA) MORDASOV (photographer, producer, fixer extraordinaire) was born in Novgorod and educated as a lawyer. Thankfully, however, he did not follow the law, having gotten hooked on photography while doing his compulsory military service. He now does freelance photography throughout Russia and Europe for a wide variety of top Western and Russian publications, and has received numerous awards and accolades. He considers surviving a 6000km road trip with Richardson to be one of his greatest achievements in life, yet still not as difficult as teaching photography courses to newbies.   

What is your favorite food? Wild trout or salmon, cooked over an open fire on the banks of the White Sea. Truthfully, I have only had this dish once in my life.

What would you be doing now if you were not doing this project? Most likely I would be in Sochi, swimming in the sea in the morning, and spending the rest of the day thinking about my next project or shooting a project about lost homelands.

What is something interesting no one normally knows about you? I have a new hobby: jumping rope. I even brought along a rope on the trip and had the idea of doing it in every city we visit. But at the end of the day I only have the energy to gather a few photos for the blog.

Where is one place in the world you have not been but would like to go? Japan, because I love fish, rice, mountains and the ocean.

PAUL (PASHA) RICHARDSON (journalist, photographer, coffee-addict) was born in California, went to school in the Midwest, and now calls Vermont home. Bit by the Russian bug while in college, he helped run a Moscow-based Canadian-Soviet joint venture in the 1980s, then returned to the US to create a publishing company focused on Russia. When not writing, translating or doing Russia-related things, he can usually be found running or photographing Vermont’s back roads, but never mowing the lawn. He finds one of life’s most difficult challenges to be choosing between a single-malt scotch and a double IPA.

What is your favorite food? It’s a three-way-tie: rib eye steak, tacos, and cherry pie.

What would you be doing now if you were not doing this project? Scheming about another, similar sort of project, or maybe translating some Chekhov.

What is something interesting no one normally knows about you? Before being seduced by journalism and Russia, I wanted to be a chef. As a result, I still have amazing knife skills (for cutting up vegetables, that is).

Where is one place in the world you have not been but would like to go? Scotland.


Map of our travels so far

(Also follow the link in the right column next to any blog post.)

Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

A beloved Russian classic about a resourceful Russian peasant, Vanya, and his miracle-working horse, who together undergo various trials, exploits and adventures at the whim of a laughable tsar, told in rich, narrative poetry.
Woe From Wit (bilingual)

Woe From Wit (bilingual)

One of the most famous works of Russian literature, the four-act comedy in verse Woe from Wit skewers staid, nineteenth century Russian society, and it positively teems with “winged phrases” that are essential colloquialisms for students of Russian and Russian culture.
Chekhov Bilingual

Chekhov Bilingual

Some of Chekhov's most beloved stories, with English and accented Russian on facing pages throughout. 
The Little Golden Calf

The Little Golden Calf

Our edition of The Little Golden Calf, one of the greatest Russian satires ever, is the first new translation of this classic novel in nearly fifty years. It is also the first unabridged, uncensored English translation ever, and is 100% true to the original 1931 serial publication in the Russian journal 30 Dnei. Anne O. Fisher’s translation is copiously annotated, and includes an introduction by Alexandra Ilf, the daughter of one of the book’s two co-authors.
Tolstoy Bilingual

Tolstoy Bilingual

This compact, yet surprisingly broad look at the life and work of Tolstoy spans from one of his earliest stories to one of his last, looking at works that made him famous and others that made him notorious. 
93 Untranslatable Russian Words

93 Untranslatable Russian Words

Every language has concepts, ideas, words and idioms that are nearly impossible to translate into another language. This book looks at nearly 100 such Russian words and offers paths to their understanding and translation by way of examples from literature and everyday life. Difficult to translate words and concepts are introduced with dictionary definitions, then elucidated with citations from literature, speech and prose, helping the student of Russian comprehend the word/concept in context.
Fish: A History of One Migration

Fish: A History of One Migration

This mesmerizing novel from one of Russia’s most important modern authors traces the life journey of a selfless Russian everywoman. In the wake of the Soviet breakup, inexorable forces drag Vera across the breadth of the Russian empire. Facing a relentless onslaught of human and social trials, she swims against the current of life, countering adversity and pain with compassion and hope, in many ways personifying Mother Russia’s torment and resilience amid the Soviet disintegration.
Moscow and Muscovites

Moscow and Muscovites

Vladimir Gilyarovsky's classic portrait of the Russian capital is one of Russians’ most beloved books. Yet it has never before been translated into English. Until now! It is a spectactular verbal pastiche: conversation, from gutter gibberish to the drawing room; oratory, from illiterates to aristocrats; prose, from boilerplate to Tolstoy; poetry, from earthy humor to Pushkin. 
A Taste of Russia

A Taste of Russia

The definitive modern cookbook on Russian cuisine has been totally updated and redesigned in a 30th Anniversary Edition. Layering superbly researched recipes with informative essays on the dishes' rich historical and cultural context, A Taste of Russia includes over 200 recipes on everything from borshch to blini, from Salmon Coulibiac to Beef Stew with Rum, from Marinated Mushrooms to Walnut-honey Filled Pies. A Taste of Russia shows off the best that Russian cooking has to offer. Full of great quotes from Russian literature about Russian food and designed in a convenient wide format that stays open during use.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955